Charles Brabin

Charles Brabin
Charles Brabin
	Griffith in 1923
Born	Charles Joseph Brabin; April 17, 1882; Liverpool, England
Died	November 3, 1957 (aged 75); Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Director; screenwriter;
Years active	1909–1934
Spouse(s)	; Susan Jane Mosher (m. 1913; div. 1920) ; Theda Bara (m. 1921; died 1955)

Charles Joseph Brabin (April 17, 1882 – November 3, 1957) was a British-American film director and screenwriter.

Biography[]

Lili Damita, Charles Brabin, and Merritt B. Gerstad on the set of The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) Note the cleavage of the French actress, which later would not be allowed, under the Motion Picture Production Code

Born in Liverpool, England, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier College. Brabin sailed to New York City in the early 1900s and, while holding down odd jobs there, he tried his hand as a stage actor. He joined the Edison Manufacturing Company around 1908, first acting, later writing and directing. He was active during the silent era, then pursued a short-lived career in talkies. His last film was A Wicked Woman for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934.^[2]

Brabin married his first wife socialite Susan "Susette" Jane Mosher, a silent movie actress and daughter of Edwin Howard Mosher and Jenny Slater Mosher of New York City. They wed December 14, 1913, at Bedford Congregational Church in the Bronx, shortly after Brabin returned from a trip to England and Europe. Brabin's best friend, screen actor Marc MacDermott, served as best man.^[3] Charles and Susan Brabin remained married for seven years.

Theda Bara and Charles Brabin (1922)

Brabin later wed silent-film "vamp" star Theda Bara July 2, 1921, remaining married to her until her death from abdominal cancer on April 7, 1955.

Partial filmography[]

The following are some of Brabin's films.^[1]

A Soldier's Duty (1912)
What Happened to Mary (1912, 12-episode serial)
An Unsullied Shield (1913)
The Man Who Disappeared (serial, 1914)
The Raven (1915)
The Price of Fame (1916)
That Sort (1916)
The Adopted Son (1917)
Red, White and Blue Blood (1917)
The Sixteenth Wife (1917)
Babette (1917)
Mary Jane's Pa (1917)
His Bonded Wife (1918)
The Poor Rich Man (1918)
Breakers Ahead (1918)
Social Quicksands (1918)
A Pair of Cupids (1918)
Buchanan's Wife (1918)
Kathleen Mavourneen (1919)
La Belle Russe (1919)
Thou Shalt Not (1919)
While New York Sleeps (1920)
Blind Wives (1920)
Footfalls (1921)
The Lights of New York (1922)
The Broadway Peacock (1922)
Six Days (1923)
Driven (1923)
So Big (1924)
Stella Maris (1925)
Ben-Hur (1925, uncredited)
Mismates (1926)
Twinkletoes (1926)
Framed (1927)
Hard-Boiled Haggerty (1927)
The Valley of the Giants (1927)
Burning Daylight (1928)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929)
The Ship from Shanghai (1929)
Call of the Flesh (1930)
The Great Meadow (1931)
Sporting Blood (1931)
The Beast of the City (1932)
The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Stage Mother (1933)
A Wicked Woman (1934)

Archive[]

Outtakes from Brabin's 1925 version of Stella Maris survive and were preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.^[4]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Parish, James; Pitts, Michael R. (1974). "BRABIN, CHARLES J., b. April 17, 1883, Liverpool, Eng.; d. Nov. 3, 1957". Film Directors: A Guide to their American Films. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press. pp. 42–43. ISBN 9780810807525. OCLC 573547659 – via Internet Archive.
^ Langman, Larry (2000). "Bragin, Charls J. (1883-1957), b. England, director". Destination Hollywood: The Influence of Europeans on American Filmmaking. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 128. ISBN 9780786406814. OCLC 1193398184 – via Internet Archive.
^ "BRABIN—MOSHER". The Moving Picture World. Moving Picture Exhibitors' Association. 18 (13): 1528. December 27, 1913. OCLC 1717051 – via Internet Archive.
^ "STELLA MARIS [ -- OUTS]". Preserved Projects | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 20, 2021.

External links[]

Charles Brabin at IMDb
Charles Brabin at the Internet Broadway Database

This article about an American screenwriter is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[Parish_Pitts_1974_pp._42–43-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Parish, James; Pitts, Michael R. (1974). "BRABIN, CHARLES J., b. April 17, 1883, Liverpool, Eng.; d. Nov. 3, 1957". Film Directors: A Guide to their American Films. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press. pp. 42–43. ISBN 9780810807525. OCLC 573547659 – via Internet Archive.

[Langman_2000_p._128-2] Langman, Larry (2000). "Bragin, Charls J. (1883-1957), b. England, director". Destination Hollywood: The Influence of Europeans on American Filmmaking. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 128. ISBN 9780786406814. OCLC 1193398184 – via Internet Archive.

[Moving_Picture_Exhibitors'_Association_1913-3] "BRABIN—MOSHER". The Moving Picture World. Moving Picture Exhibitors' Association. 18 (13): 1528. December 27, 1913. OCLC 1717051 – via Internet Archive.

[Preserved_Projects-4] "STELLA MARIS [ -- OUTS]". Preserved Projects | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 20, 2021.

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Charles Brabin
Griffith in 1923
Born	Charles Joseph Brabin (1882-04-17)April 17, 1882^[1] Liverpool, England^[1]
Died	November 3, 1957(1957-11-03) (aged 75)^[1] Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Director screenwriter
Years active	1909–1934
Spouse(s)	Susan Jane Mosher (m. 1913; div. 1920) Theda Bara (m. 1921; died 1955)